Peter DeBoer is confident that Ilya Kovalchuk (shoulder) will be back in time to try and help the Devils make the playoffs.

When exactly that might be, DeBoer couldn’t say.

“I can’t put a number on that yet,” DeBoer said, per The Record. “I can tell you he’s making great strides and I’m optimistic he’ll be able to help us down the stretch. For me, that means more than the last couple games.”

Sullivan, 38, started his NHL career with the Devils before stops in Toronto, Chicago, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Phoenix.

“Hopefully, he brings what he’s brought his entire career and that’s energy, speed and the ability to create some offense and play with good players,” DeBoer said. “So, I’m hopeful he can help us 5-on-5 and, hopefully, he can help us on the power play and maybe in shootouts.”

The Devils, ninth in the Eastern Conference, are winless in their last five games and have scored just once in their last two.

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk has been the most difficult goalies to score against this season. Leave it to a high-level player like Leon Draisaitl to make it look this, well, “easy.”

Draisaitl scored his 13th goal of 2016-17 by capping this pretty give-and-go play with Benoit Pouliot. You can see the frustration from Dubnyk at the end of the tally, as if he was saying “How was I supposed to stop that?” (though probably with more colorful language).

Draisaitl came into Friday with five goals and three assists in his last five games, so he’s been almost unstoppable lately.